Pleural effusion belongs to the category of “hanging drink” in traditional Chinese medicine. It was first seen in Zhang Zhongjing’s “Golden Chamber Synopsis: Phlegm Drinking Cough and Pulse Syndrome Combined Treatment” article “After drinking, the water flows under the flank, coughing saliva and causing pain, which is called hanging Drink”, the article also pointed out the different characteristics of the four drinks. Among them, malignant pleural effusion is equivalent to the so-called “lung accumulation”, “addiction to drink”, “Xigong”, “feikui”, “xuanyin”, “xiji” and so on in traditional Chinese medicine. The ancients had different understandings of lung accumulation. For example, in “Su Wen·Odd Diseases”: “Diseases are full of Qi and go up… The name of the disease is interest accumulation, which may not be eaten.” The accumulation of the lungs is called Xigong. … After a long period of time, it makes people feel cold and heat in Zhejiang, panting with heat, and sending out the lungs.” And in the fourth volume of “Jishengfang”: “The shape of the breath and reward, under the right flank, is as large as Covering the cup, wheezing and overflowing, is the accumulation of the lungs.” There is also “Difficulty Classics • Fifty-Four Difficulties”: “The accumulation of the lungs is called relieving responsibility.” Pulmonary accumulation of pulses floating and hairy, easy to press, reversed qi under the flank, pain in the back, lack of qi, forgetfulness, eye borer, cold skin, autumn and summer lilies, pain in the main skin from time to time, like lice chants, very It is like acupuncture, itching from time to time, and its color is white.”
The explanation of Xuanyin is in “Su Wen·Yu Ji Zhen Zang Lun”: “The large bones are withered, the large flesh is sunken, the chest is full of gas, the breathing is inconvenient, the internal pain is leading to the shoulders, and the body is hot. The symptoms of lung cancer, fever, chest pain, and shoulders and back are explained in the book “Flesh and Broken”. Zhang Jingyue of the Ming Dynasty said: “Those who are coughing, have a low voice, can’t make the sound, or have shortness of breath, the lungs will fail, and they will die.” The ancient people’s explanations for hanging drink are even more numerous. For example, “Su Wen·Zhizhenyao Da Lun” said: “Dampness and prostitution are prosperous… people’s diseases accumulate drink…” “Cough and Pulse Syndrome and Treatment”: “After drinking, the water flows under the flank, coughing saliva and causing pain, which is called hanging drink.”
Based on the above theory, it can be seen that the pleural effusion of malignant tumors is due to the internal deficiency of righteous qi, Disorder of the viscera leads to the entry of evil poisons, the evil stagnates in the lungs, the lungs fail to disperse and descend, the lung qi is responsible for stagnation, the qi movement is unfavorable, the blood flow is not smooth, the body fluid is lost in the transport, and the body fluid is phlegm. Obstructing the collaterals, over time, it will develop into lung accumulation. Accumulation is obsessed with the chest and flank, the triple burner is unfavorable, the waterway is blocked, and pleural effusion occurs. The disease location and symptoms are consistent with Xuanyin. In addition, the long-term failure of the treatment of cancer, the consumption of righteousness, the damage to the lungs, spleen and kidneys, the failure of the upper burner to regulate the water and the lungs, the failure of the middle burner and the spleen to transport and transform the water valley, the loss of the lower burner and the kidney, the loss of clarity and turbidity. Hanging drink. Suspended drink caused by malignant tumor is caused by cancer, so it is different from the common one caused by exogenous invasion and blocked in Sanjiao, and the prognosis is poor.